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Agencies can start prepping systems for DUNS transition

The government will need to prepare for next year’s transition or risk the federal contracting version of Y2K.

The federal government is transitioning to a new unique entity identifier to track all vendors and organizations doing business with the government. The General Services Administration, which manages the system, released technical specifications for the two central APIs used to access the unique ID databases, kicking off the transition process for the rest of government.

For federal agencies that use the current ID numbers — read: all agencies — that will mean ensuring their systems are able to process the new ID format before the transition is complete at the end of 2020.

The government, through a contract with GSA, has relied on proprietary identifiers maintained by Dun & Bradstreet since 1962. The Data Universal Numbering System, or DUNS, number was officially codified in the Federal Acquisition Regulation in 1998, but last year GSA started the process of bidding the contract for the first time in 20 years.

GSA announced in March that Ernst & Young would be taking over the process and replacing the DUNS number with new Unique Entity ID, with the transition set to take place before the end of 2020.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/analytics-data/2019/12/agencies-can-start-prepping-systems-duns-transition/161929/

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GSA changes direction on contracting identification

The General Services Administration is leaving behind its entity validation work with Dun & Bradstreet following the March 18 award of a new $41.75 million entity validation contract to Ernst and Young.

Entity validation services ensure that federal agencies can confirm the identity of any company, individual or organization wishing to do business with the government.

“Securing this five-year contract means that the federal government will have a safe, secure and unified method for validating entities, while also simplifying the process for those who seek awards,” said GSA Office of Systems Management Assistant Commissioner Judith Zawatsky in a news release.

“This award greatly improves the government’s ability to manage data and is an important step forward to competitively procuring entity validation services on behalf of the entire government award community.”

According to a September 2016 GSA blog post, the agency has partnered with Dun & Bradstreet since the 1970s, and the company had longstanding control over government identity validation.

Some industry groups have in the past been critical of D&B’s proprietary control over the contracting validation process.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2019/03/19/gsa-changes-direction-on-contracting-identification/

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Are GSA’s bold data management and transparency moves the right moves?

Data is essential to guide evidence-based decision-making, a critical best practice toward informed policy development.

A recent Government Accountability Office report has taken the government to task for failing to properly implement empirically sound and evidence-based practices as part of their deliberative process.

To encourage evidence-based decision-making, the recent President’s Management Agenda laid out a new cross-agency priority goal—“Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset”—to develop and implement a comprehensive federal data strategy. Over the course of the next year, with input from the full spectrum of government and non-government stakeholders, the first governmentwide data strategy will be developed, along with specific recommendations for implementation. Office of Management and Budget sought to inform this process by issuing a comment draft in June.

By most accounts, the commitment to an overarching federal data strategy is welcome and timely. Huge amounts of data collected and managed by the federal government can be applied in a large variety of ways to foster economic growth and social good.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2018/10/are-gsas-bold-data-management-and-transparency-moves-right-moves/152043/

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For the first time in 20 years, GSA opens bids for business numbering system

The General Services Administration opened up bids to manage its vendor verification system — which ascribes a unique identifying number to each contractor doing business with the government — with the release of a request for proposals Aug. 31.

The Data Universal Numbering Systems, or DUNS number, has been the government standard for identifying contractors, non-profits and other organizations doing business with the federal government since 1962 and became an official part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation in 1998.

“The DUNS number is not just a number—it is a system for maintaining accurate, comprehensive and timely information—and it is issued rapidly and free of charge for all entities wanting to do business with the U.S. federal government,” according to the website for Dun and Bradstreet, the vendor that has managed the system since its inception and for which the number is named.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/analytics-data/2018/09/first-time-20-years-gsa-opens-bids-business-numbering-system/151032/

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GSA taking bids for new contractor validation service

The General Services Administration has started the long-anticipated process to acquire new validation services for federal contractors and grantees.

The agency issued a request for proposals Friday (Aug. 31, 2018) seeking an identifier and unique numbering system for its Integrated Award Environment and System for Award Management to validate that companies or other organizations that do business with the government are who they say they are.

This comes ahead of the expiration this year of its current validation contract with Dun & Bradstreet.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/29638-2/

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